Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Alter Space: Play and Learn to Reduce your Carbon Footprint

Alter Space is the newest Filipino-developed Facebook game. It is the first of its kind as it directly addresses the greater public about the ways on how they can have a cleaner and greener environment. The ultimate goal of the game is to reduce Carbon Footprint.

Carbon footprint is the measure of the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activities. These greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere through the greenhouse effect. The more greenhouse gases are released, the warmer our planet gets. Too much warmth on a global scale affects our weather in ways that could harm our environment and life on Earth.

Reducing the amount of carbon emissions in the planet is one way of managing Global Warming. To do this, we need to choose activities that leave only a small carbon footprint.

In Alter Space, the game player has his/her own little planet to take care of. They do this by keeping their carbon footprint levels low, while still keeping their Happiness levels up. They will have to accomplish fun tasks and challenges while their carbon footprint is measured.

Every choice they make affects their environment, and the game always gives feedback as to whether the player's choice was environmentally sound or not. They can also invite friends to be their neighbors, and their over-all carbon footprint as a community will be calculated.

If they fail to make the cleaner and greener choice, their virtual planet will experience disasters like Smog, which cause their avatar to lose interaction, and Heat Wave, wherein they will have to perform extra tasks or pay a fee to bring their carbon footprint down.

Aside from carbon footprint calculator, game players' progress is also measured through their Happiness level, Current-cy, and Experience points.

Mini-games, meanwhile, provide game players an interactive way with which they could learn more about the different sources of cleaner and renewable energy. Harvesting alternative energy is how they earn points in their planet- a significant function of the game that encourages players to seek out and use alternative energy.

While addressing the bigger issues of carbon footprint reduction and environmental preservation, Alter Space employs some uniquely Filipino features in doing so. It is the perfect game for Filipinos to play.

Alter Space was developed by AboitizPower to educate gamers on Carbon Footprint Reduction.